The
uphill battle for BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion continues to
steepen. The Canadian company is expected to announce its first quarter results
after markets close today, and as
RIM predicted back in March, the results will prove to be disappointing.

Reutersreports that RIM will announce
first-quarter earnings of $1.32 a share and revenue of $5.1 billion. That's at
the low end of RIM's $1.30-$1.37 per share earnings
prediction it issued in April. Current quarter earnings are expected to be
$1.36 a share with revenue of $5.4 billion.

RIM
promised a better full-year outlook, which hinges largely on the success of its
PlayBook tablet. But rumors of a BlackBerry Torch and Storm smartphone
updates remain just that — rumors, causing investors to get nervous Reuters reports.

"We
believe RIM has now squandered nearly every opportunity and competitive
advantage it enjoyed through ineffective R&D resource management, delayed
product launches and misreads of the competitive environment," Morgan
Stanley analyst Ehud Gelblum wrote in a note to clients, Reuters reports.

But
smartphone versions of the PlayBook tablet are in the works, according to RIM,
and the tablet itself is set to launch worldwide.

According
to a Reuters poll of 21 analysts, RIM is expected to ship
700,000 tablets in the current quarter. If results of first-quarter sales for
the PlayBook prove to be greater than 370,000, that will already exceed low
expectations. (By comparison, the iPad sold 2 million units in its first two
months, and the Android-based Motorola Xoom sold 250,000 units in its first
month.)

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